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Instead of trying to dominate your employees, it's important to establish a work environment that emphasizes reciprocity, writes Mark Sanborn, president of Sanborn & Associates. It's also helpful to listen to what your employees have to say and show appreciation for good work. "Don't be afraid of overdoing it. You connect with people more deeply when you recognize the best in them and let them know," Sanborn writes.

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The key to creating a fair workplace is to build a uniform set of rules and to show your employees you care, experts say. Let your employees speak up, and always give them credit for their ideas. "Underlying the feeling of fairness has to be some trust, and I think transparency is the key in building trust among employees," says Michael Kuhar, a senior faculty fellow at the Center for Ethics at Emory University.

Three-quarters of workers would prefer a manager who is demanding but high achieving over one who is nice but ineffective, according to a survey released ahead of National Boss Day. The survey also found employees prefer recognition be done privately and that they appreciate managers who focus on promoting career development instead of a fun work environment.

You can help your employees to stay energized by offering them public praise for good ideas or a job well done, Peter Economy writes. It's also important to set lofty goals for employee performance and to establish an atmosphere of trust. Give your employees the resources they need to be successful and build a productive working environment, Economy writes.

Some employers might unintentionally be doing things that make their workers silently despise them, writes Mark Sanborn, president of Sanborn & Associates. Your employees might be dissatisfied if you fail to listen, display a negative attitude or reward the wrong types of behavior, he writes. "Leaders are especially powerful in influencing the mood of those on their team," he writes.

You can gauge the value of an employee by asking yourself how his or her departure would affect your company, Michael Hess writes. "You should never be in a situation where losing an employee can lead to major problems or even disaster," Hess writes. "Your business should be prepared for anyone -- including you -- to be gone for any length of time, or forever."